Bella 7 months old

Miss Bella had a busy month. She got spayed and trained on her new electric fence. She now has an acre and a half to run, fetch and play in the snow. This is her kind of weather, snow of the ground and sub-zero windchills. She doesn't mind in the least.

I actually had to go pick up Mike in a snowstorm the other night with two kids fresh out of the bathtub and in pjamas, winter coats and boots and I kept thinking to myself, if we run into a ditch we are going to die. So quick thinker that I am, I loaded Bella into the car to keep us warm if something happened to us. How terrible is that? But it is another good use for her.. She really is our sweet girl and I am so glad we got her. Now tell me, would you break into a garage or house with this girl sitting on the porch? Yeah, I didn't think so...

Making Gingerbread Houses at the Library

My darling sweet husband actually forfeited watching the Bears game to come with me and the kids to make gingerbread houses at the library. It was very fun even if the kids needed a bath as soon as we got home to get all of the icing out of their hair and I had to brush their teeth about twenty times..

Ty and Santa

Storytime with Watson

I was the only to show up for storytime at the library this week so the kids got a private libary storytime with Watson the library mascot. Then they took the kids picture for the library newspaper and Mia was less than thrilled to have to stand with the giant dog but she did it. It is classic Mia. She is very stoic when she is anxious or scared and puts on her, "I just need to do this and get it over with" face.

Singalong with Santa

After hockey and gymnastics, we took the kids out to lunch and then to a local children's theater for a sing-along with Santa. The kids had so much fun and it was a great wake to kick off the Christmas holiday. Tyler and Mia both sat on Santa's lap and both got on stage to sing Christmas carols with the actors.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nails

For the first time today (Thanksgiving), Mia asked me to paint her nails. I was very worried there was going to be nail polish everywhere but she was excited by her pretty nails that after she showed Daddy and Tyler, she sat absolutely still waiting for them to dry..

Ice Skating - November

One day, out of the blue, Tyler let me know he liked to play ice hockey. Ok, I said, well let's go try it out. He went to the rink, got all the equipment on, fell like 500 times, got off the ice and told me it was the most fun he had ever had. So he is now taking Tot Pucks twice a week and is doing really well. The great thing about being four is you don't get embarassed when you fall and you are so close to the ground it doesn't hurt. It's so fun to watch him and he gets such a good workout. Now the only issue is that Mia is ready to learn. When Mike puts Tyler's skates on, she sits down on the bench and says, "my turn." We are going to let her try it during open skate and see if she is ready. Our friends in Canada start their kids at 2 so she may be able to do it. Mike and I are going to have to go practice to keep up with them...